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About

Neil Hokanson holds a bachelors degree in Education from the University of South Dakota (1993) and a masters degree in Education with a focus on Instructional Technology from the University of Wyoming (2006). Neil will begin his 21st year of working in public schools and taught in the public school system for 13 years at the middle and high school levels as a social studies teacher in South Dakota and Wyoming. He extensively integrated technology in his classrooms for several years and served as an instructor for many staff development courses and presentations in the districts he taught in. As a school technology specialist Neil has provided training, support, and assistance in helping educators integrate technology in all subject areas and grade levels. Neil served as the educational technology director for the North Platte Public Schools in Nebraska from 2007-2012. He moved back to the classroom in the Fall of 2012 and currently embeds Andorid tablets, a BYOD networking solution, and continues to create an extensive tutorial library at Hokanson's American History in his classroom. He is the proud husband of Dianna, a veteran speech-language pathologist, and father of 5 beautiful children: Hannah, Charlie, Ronan, Nicholas, and Heather.

Contents

This site is a compilation of research documents, texts, and resources gathered along the journey to find ways to help people learn more effectively in an ever changing world. What is shared is not always new, neither will it always be the first place one may have come across it, but the information is presented as the author is introduced to the many forms of technology that exist and are created in this wonderful, fascinating universe! Citations and referring links will be honored to the best of the author’s ability. Please inform of any omissions so that they can be corrected immediately. Enjoy!

Quotes

"Out of clutter, find simplicity.
From discord, find harmony.
In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity."

-Albert Einstein

“The digital outcast is not somebody who doesn’t have access to the technologies; s/he is somebody who, after the access has been granted, fails to actualise the transformative potentials of technologies for the self or for others.”

-Nishant Shah, Research Director of the Centre for Internet and Society in India

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

-From the speech, “Citizenship in a Republic” (1910) by Theodore Roosevelt

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here are the personal views of Neil Hokanson and Hokanson's Instructional Technology (H I T) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the North Platte Public School District.

Reference to any products, services, hypertext link to the third parties or other information by trade name, trademark, supplier or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation by me. Nor is an endorsement of me implied by such links. They are for convenience only, as an index in a public library.

Any information on this web site may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Furthermore, the information may change from time to time without any notice.

Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, Neil Hokanson and Hokanson's Instructional Technology (H I T) takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.

Game Show Presenter

Several years ago I came across Game Show Presenter and at the time only had access to one computer in my classroom. I was looking for ways to spice up my instruction to engage my middle school students in social studies facts that often just have to be known before moving on to higher order thinking skills.

My answer to part of this challenge was Game Show Presenter. It has a cost of $49 for educators with a discount for district licensing, but this program brought fun and excitement to my classroom and was well worth the modest cost! You can try it for FREE, and it works on a Macintosh or Windows platform.

You put in the questions and answers, rate the questions (hard – easy, etc.), and then choose your settings (background, sounds, etc.). It is great to project onto a SmartBoard or screen, but I have had students use it simply on a computer screen. My students also enjoyed making game shows that integrated with their own or group projects, and the incentive was they wanted to make and “play” Game Show!”

You will see a quote on the right side bar at the program’s web site that states:

“It’s so much fun, and a great review tool.” — Neil (Middle School teacher)

That’s me, and I continue to feel the same way about this wonderful tool! Try it today with any age level. Game Show Presenter is a lot of fun and definitely stimulates learning!